Baseband processing combined BPC capability configuration method and device, base station and computer storage medium

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are a baseband processing combination (BPC) capability configuration method and device, a base station and a computer storage medium. The base station includes a network element and a second network element connected to the first network element. The first network element and the second network element are separately deployed, the first network element is responsible for radio resource management, and the second network element is responsible for underlying radio transmission management. In the process of a UE accessing the second network element of the base station, the second network element of the base station selects a BPC for the UE, and the base station can then schedule the UE according to the BPC selected by the second network element for the UE and perform necessary radio resource configuration.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 asa continuation of U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No.17/060,949, filed on Oct. 1, 2020, which is a continuation of PCT PatentApplication No. PCT/CN2019/080360, filed on Mar. 29, 2019, which claimspriority to Chinese patent application no. 201810299706.0, filed on Apr.4, 2018, the disclosure of each of which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to the communication field, for example,to a baseband processing combination (BPC) capability configurationmethod and device, a base station and a computer storage medium.

BACKGROUND

The generation Node B (gNB) which adopts a new radio (NR) accesstechnology over a radio interface is deployed in the radio accessnetwork (RAN) of the fifth generation (5G) communication system.Referring to the illustration of FIG. 1 , a gNB may be comprised of onecentralized unit (CU) and at least one distributed unit (DU). Such basestation is also referred to as a separated base station or a distributedbase station. Such base station is also applicable to a dualconnectivity (DC) architecture, and in the DC architecture, the gNB inthe form of CU-DU may be a master node (MN) and/or a secondary node(SN).

When a serving base station includes at least one base station deployedin the form of CU-DU, there is currently no solution to how to select abaseband processing combination (BPC) capability used by a userequipment (UE).

SUMMARY

The embodiments of the present application provide a BPC capabilityconfiguration method and device, a base station and a computer storagemedium to mainly solve the technical problem of how to achieve theselection of a BPC capability for a user equipment.

A baseband processing combination (BPC) capability configuration methodis provided in the embodiments of the present application and includessteps described below.

In an access process of a user equipment, a second network element of abase station selects a BPC for the user equipment.

The base station includes a first network element and the second networkelement connected to the first network element, and the first networkelement and the second network element are separately deployed.

A baseband processing combination (BPC) capability configuration deviceis further provided in the embodiments of the present application, isconfigured in a second network element of a base station, and includes aconfiguration module.

The configuration module is configured to select a BPC for a userequipment in a process of the user equipment accessing the secondnetwork element of the base station.

The base station includes a first network element and the second networkelement connected to the first network element, and the first networkelement and the second network element are separately deployed.

A base station is further provided in the embodiments of the presentapplication, and includes a first network element and a second networkelement connected to the first network element. The first networkelement and the second network element are separately deployed, thefirst network element is at least responsible for radio resourcemanagement, and the second network element is at least responsible forlower layer radio transmission management.

The second network element includes a processor, a memory and acommunication bus.

The communication bus is configured to implement connectioncommunication between the processor and the memory.

The processor is configured to execute one or more programs stored inthe memory to implement the baseband processing combination (BPC)capability configuration method described above.

To solve the above technical problem, a computer storage medium isfurther provided in the embodiments of the present application, and isconfigured to store one or more programs. The one or more programs areexecuted by a processor for implementing the baseband processingcombination (BPC) capability configuration method described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a structure diagram of a gNB;

FIG. 2 is a structure diagram of a base station according to embodimentone of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a BPC capability configuration according toembodiment one of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a BPC reconfiguration determination accordingto embodiment one of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a BPC capability configuration based on a BPCconvergence list according to embodiment one of the present application;

FIG. 6 is structure diagram one of a BPC capability configuration deviceaccording to embodiment two of the present application;

FIG. 7 is structure diagram two of a BPC capability configuration deviceaccording to embodiment two of the present application;

FIG. 8 is structure diagram three of a BPC capability configurationdevice according to embodiment two of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a structure diagram of a second network element of a basestation according to embodiment three of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of BPC capability configuration in scenario oneaccording to embodiment three of the present application;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of BPC capability configuration in scenario twoaccording to embodiment three of the present application;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of BPC capability configuration in scenario threeaccording to embodiment three of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of BPC capability configuration in scenario fouraccording to embodiment three of the present application; and

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of BPC capability configuration in scenario fiveaccording to embodiment three of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present application will be further described belowin detail by use of implementations and with reference to drawings. Itis to be understood that the embodiments described herein are merelyintended to explain the present application and not to limit the presentapplication.

Embodiment One

Referring to FIG. 2 , the base station in this embodiment includes afirst network element and a second network element connected to thefirst network element. It should be understood that in this embodiment,the number of second network elements under the first network elementmay be flexibly set. One second network element may be provided, or twoor more second network elements may be included. The first networkelement and the second network element are separately deployed, and thesecond network element may be configured in a distributed manner. Thefirst network element is at least responsible for radio resourcemanagement (RRM). In some application scenarios, the first networkelement may also be configured with radio resources of at least one of aradio resource control (RRC) layer, a service data adaptation protocol(SDAP) sublayer in layer 2 (L2) or a packet data convergence protocol(PDCP) sublayer in L2. The second network element is at leastresponsible for underlying radio transmission management. For example,in some application scenarios, the second network element may also beresponsible for configuring radio resources of at least one of a radiolink control (RLC) sublayer in L2, a medium access control (MAC)sublayer in L2 or a physical layer and communicates with the UE over aUu radio interface. Of course, it should be understood that in thisembodiment, the functions of the first network element and the secondnetwork element may be flexibly set and are not limited to the functionsexemplified above.

A baseband processing combination (BPC) capability configuration methodprovided in this embodiment includes: in an access process of a UE, asecond network element of a base station selects a BPC for the UE. Thatis, in a case where the base station of the structure shown in FIG. 2 isprovided as a serving base station in this embodiment, when the UEaccesses the base station, the second network element of the basestation selects the BPC for the UE. Moreover, since the second networkelement is at least responsible for underlying radio transmissionmanagement, the second network element selects a BPC for the UE, and thebase station can then schedule the UE according to the BPC selected bythe second network element for the UE and perform necessary radioresource configuration, etc.; the BPC selection when the UE accesses theseparated base station is achieved. Moreover, since the second networkelement is at least responsible for underlying radio transmissionmanagement, the second network element selecting the BPC for the UE canalso avoid a case of selection of a wrong BPC due to the fact that thefirst network element does not know the situation of the underlyingradio resource and environment, thus enabling the BPC that should becurrently used by the UE to be effectively and reasonably selected in anaccess network. Thereby, when the UE is scheduled, full use can be madewithout exceeding the capability range of the UE, achieving reasonablemaximization of the performance of the UE.

In this embodiment, the manner of configuring a BPC for the UE by thesecond network element p can be flexibly set according to requirements.For ease of understanding, this embodiment is illustrated in severalexemplary configurations.

In this embodiment, the step in which the second network element selectsthe BPC for the UE may include: the second network element selecting theBPC for the UE according to a current radio resource situation of thesecond network element itself. At this time, the second network elementis necessarily to acquire the current radio resource situation of thesecond network element itself. For the configuration process, referenceis made to FIG. 3 . The configuration process includes step S301 andstep S302.

In step S301, the second network element acquires the current radioresource situation of the second network element itself.

It should be understood that in this embodiment, when the second networkelement acquires the current radio resource situation of the secondnetwork element itself, the current radio resource situation of thesecond network element may be detected and acquired by the secondnetwork element itself and may also be acquired from another networkelement or device that can detect and acquire the current radio resourcesituation of the second network element. Moreover, the radio resourcesituation in this embodiment may include at least one radio resourcesituation affecting the BPC selection for the UE. In an embodiment, aradio resource that does not directly affect the BPC selection for theUE may also be included at the same time. For example, in one example,the radio resource includes, but is not limited to, a networkelement-side radio frequency capability situation and an antenna usagesituation.

In step S302, the second network element selects a BPC for the UEaccording to the current radio resource situation of the second networkelement itself.

For example, when the current radio resource situation of the secondnetwork element is that a radio frequency capability is greater than apreset radio frequency capability threshold and an antenna idle rate isgreater than a preset idle rate threshold, a BPC with a higher level ofmultiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) may be selected on the premisethat the UE capability is not exceeded. When a radio frequencycapability is less than or equal to a preset radio frequency capabilitythreshold and/or an antenna idle rate is less than or equal to a presetidle rate threshold, a BPC with a lower level of MIMO may be selected.For example, the selection can be flexibly set according to specificcommunication environment, specific application scenario requirements,etc.

In this embodiment, the second network element selects the BPC for theUE, that is, selects a BPC that should be currently used for the UE. The“BPC that should be currently used by the UE” in this embodiment refersto that when the second network element performs transmission schedulingon the UE, the corresponding parameters do not go beyond variousparameter values included in the BPC selected for the UE. In thisembodiment, the parameter values included in the BPC include, but arenot limited to, a bandwidth class, subcarrier spacing, a MIMO layer,etc. It should also be understood that in this embodiment, the numberand content of parameter values included in the BPC can be flexibly setand adjusted according to specific requirements.

In this embodiment, since the first network element is at leastresponsible for radio resource management (RRM), the first networkelement can know the overall network environment. Therefore, in oneexample of this embodiment, the first network element can converge theBPCs in the list of BPCs supported by the UE, and send a BPC convergencelist obtained after the convergence processing to the second networkelement. The BPC convergence list includes BPCs currently applicable tothe UE and selected by the first network element from the list of BPCssupported by the UE, so that the second network element can select anappropriate BPC in the BPC convergence list, thus improving the accuracyand efficiency of BPC selection performed by the second network element.

In this embodiment, according to the current radio resourceconfiguration of the UE and at least one of the service requirements ofthe UE, the first network element can screen the BPCs in the list ofBPCs supported by the UE to obtain a BPC convergence list, and theobtained BPC convergence list generally includes at least one BPCcurrently applicable to the UE. The first network element can send theobtained BPC convergence list to the second network element through aninterface message between network elements.

In this embodiment, when the second network element receives the BPCconvergence list from the first network element, the second networkelement can select a BPC for the UE from the received BPC convergencelist when selecting the BPC for the UE. In an embodiment, the step inwhich the second network element selects the BPC for the UE according tothe current radio resource situation of the second network elementitself may include that: the second network element selects the BPC forthe UE from the BPC convergence list according to the current radioresource situation of the second network element itself.

In this embodiment, the list of BPCs supported by the UE can be acquiredfrom the capability information of the UE, and the list of BPCs includesa plurality of BPCs supported by the UE. For example, in one example ofthis embodiment, the capability information of the UE includesinformation such as a frequency band that the UE can support, afrequency band combination that the UE can support, and a BPC capabilitythat the UE can support.

In this embodiment, the step in which the first network element performsconvergence processing on the list of BPCs supported by the UE may alsobe an optional step, that is, the first network element may not performconvergence processing on the list of BPCs supported by the UE. In thiscase, the second network element directly selects a BPC from the list ofBPCs supported by the UE. In one example, the second network element mayfirst acquire at least one of the current serving frequency band or thecurrent serving cell of the UE, and then select a BPC for the UE fromthe BPCs supported by the UE according to the at least one of thecurrent serving frequency band or the current serving cell of the UE. Inan embodiment, the second network element can select a BPC for the UEaccording to the current radio resource situation of the second networkelement itself and in combination with at least one of the currentserving frequency band or the current serving cell of the UE, thusensuring the accuracy of BPC selection.

In this embodiment, after the second network element configures the BPCfor the UE, the method also includes sending the BPC selected for the UEto the first network element for the first network element to perform atleast one of the following operations: saving the BPC, performingvarious management based on the BPC, etc.

In an embodiment, the base station may also be adapted to a DCarchitecture, and in this embodiment, the base station may act as amaster node (MN) or a secondary node (SN) in the DC architecture.

In the DC architecture, when the base station acts as an MN, in anembodiment, when the first network element performs convergenceprocessing on the BPCs supported by the UE and obtains and sends therange of converged BPCs to the second network element for indication,the adaptation to the BPC used by the SN in the DC architecture shouldbe considered. That is, a BPC in the BPC convergence list sent by thefirst network element to the second network element is adapted to theBPC used by the secondary node in the DC architecture. In this way, itcan be ensured that the BPC selected by the second network element forthe UE is adapted to the BPC used by the SN in the DC architecture.

In the DC architecture, when the base station acts as an SN, in anembodiment, when the first network element performs convergenceprocessing on the BPCs supported by the UE and obtains and sends therange of converged BPCs to the second network element for indication,the range of converged BPCs indicated by the first network element tothe second network element cannot exceed the range of BPCs available onthe SN side indicated by the MN in the DC architecture. That is, the BPCin the BPC convergence list sent by the first network element to thesecond network element is within the BPC range designated for thesecondary node by the master node in the DC architecture. In this way,it can be ensured that the BPC selected by the second network elementfor the UE is adapted to the BPC used by the SN in the DC architecture.

In this embodiment, the adaptation of two BPCs refers to indicating, inthe UE radio capability information, when one network element (e.g., MN)selects a BPC, the corresponding other network element (e.g., SN) mayselect one or more BPCs corresponding to the BPC selected by theprevious one network element. In an embodiment, a parameter used for theDC can be defined in the UE capability. For example, it is defined thatwhen the first network element uses a frequency band 1, the secondnetwork element may use a frequency band 2, which is referred to asadaptation of the frequency band 1 to the frequency band 2 in thisembodiment. In an embodiment, it may also be defined in the UEcapability that when the first network element uses the frequency band1, scheduling can be performed based on BPC #1/2, and that when thesecond network element uses the frequency band 2, scheduling can beperformed based on BPC #3/4, and then BPC #1/2 may also be referred toas being adapted to BPC #3/4 in this embodiment.

In this embodiment, when at least two second network elements areconnected to the first network element of the second network element ofthe base station, the UE may be connected to only one of the secondnetwork elements, or may be connected to two or more second networkelements at the same time according to requirements. In an embodiment,at this time, a plurality of second network elements connected to the UEeach can perform the above-mentioned process of selecting the BPC forthe UE, and the first network element can indicate the list of BPCs toat least one of these second network elements; in some examples, thefirst network element may indicate the lists of BPCs to each of thesecond network elements. In this embodiment, after these second networkelements select BPCs for the UE, the plurality of second networkelements can directly coordinate, through the first network element orbetween the second network elements, the BPCs selected for the UE, so asto ensure that the sum of UE capabilities occupied by these secondnetwork elements when the UE is scheduled does not exceed the maximumBPC capability that the UE should currently support. For example, whenthe BPC of the UE supports a maximum of 6 levels of MIMO, the MIMOoccupied by the respective second network elements cannot exceed 6levels.

In this embodiment, for ease of understanding, a description is given bytaking as an example the UE being connected to two second networkelements at the same time. In this example, the first network element isreferred to as a network element A, and the two network elements eachconnected to the UE are referred to as a network element B and a networkelement C respectively. It is assumed that the network element A sendsBPC convergence lists to the network element B and network element Crespectively, and the network element B and the network element Crespectively select BPCs for the UE through the BPC selection methoddescribed above. Moreover, in one application scenario, the networkelement B and the network element C respectively send the selected BPCsto the network element A. At this time, the network element A candetermine whether the BPC selected for the UE by the network element Baffects the BPC selected for the UE by the network element C, and/orwhether the BPC selected for the UE by the network element C affects theBPC selected for the UE by the network element B. If the BPC selectedfor the UE by the network element B affects the BPC selected for the UEby the network element C, and/or the BPC selected for the UE by thenetwork element C affects the BPC selected for the UE by the networkelement B, a BPC change notification is sent to the affected networkelement B or network element C to notify the network element B ornetwork element C to perform BPC re-selection, or the BPC convergencelist sent to the network element B or network element C is modifiedaccording to the effect so that network element B or network element Ccan perform BPC re-selection according to the received new list of BPCs.In another application scenario, after the network element B and thenetwork element C respectively select BPCs for the UE through the BPCselection method described above, at least one of the network element Bor network element C sends the BPC selected for the UE to the othernetwork element. For example, the network element B sends, directly orthrough the network element A, the BPC selected for the UE by thenetwork element B itself to the network element C. At this time, thenetwork element C can determine, according to the BPC selected for theUE by the network element B and the BPC selected for the UE by thenetwork element C itself, whether the BPC previously selected for the UEby the network element C itself needs to be re-selected.

Through the above exemplary coordination among the network element A,the network element B and the network element C, when the networkelement B and network element C schedule the UE, the occupied UE radiocapabilities will not exceed the maximum BPC capability that the UE cansupport for the servicing frequency band. It should be understood thatwhen the UE is connected to three or more second network elements underthe first network element at the same time, the selection negotiationprocess of the BPC can be analogized on the basis of the above exampleand will not be repeated here.

According to the above example, in this embodiment, after configuringthe BPC for the UE during the initial access process of the UE, thesecond network element may also need to re-select the BPC for the UE.That is, after the second network element selects the BPC for the UE,the following determination process shown in FIG. 4 is also included.The determination process includes step S401 and step S402.

In step S401, the second network element detects whether a BPC changecondition is triggered. If the BPC change condition is triggered, theprocess proceeds to S402. If the BPC change condition is not triggered,the process proceeds back to S401 to continue the determination.

In step S402, a BPC is re-selected for the UE.

In one example of this embodiment, the BPC change condition includes,but is not limited to, at least one of the conditions described below.

Condition one: Radio resource configuration of the UE changes, and thechanged radio resource configuration affects a BPC selection for the UE.In this example, the first network element may adjust the radio resourceconfiguration of the UE (e.g., modifying the serving frequency band ofthe UE), or other network elements or devices may adjust the radioresource configuration of the UE.

Condition two: BPCs applicable to the UE change. In this example, thefirst network element may adjust the BPCs applicable to the UE, and thetrigger situation for the first network element to adjust the BPCsapplicable to the UE can also be flexibly set. For example, in the aboveexample, when the network element A determines that the BPC selected forthe UE by the network element C affects the BPC selected for the UE bythe network element B, the adjusted new BPC convergence list can be sentto the network element B to change the BPCs currently applicable to theUE.

Condition three: The second network element initiates a BPCre-selection. For example, the second network element may initiate theBPC re-selection when the current radio resource situation of the secondnetwork element itself satisfies the BPC re-selection condition, orinitiate the BPC re-selection when a preset time period is reached. Theinitiation condition may be flexibly set.

Condition four: The second network element needs to adjust the BPCpreviously selected for the UE due to the fact that the second networkelement detects a BPC selected for the UE by another network element.For example, in the above example, the network element C may determinewhether to reconfigure the BPC previously selected for the UE by thenetwork element C itself according to the BPC selected for the UE by thenetwork element B and the BPC selected for the UE by the network elementC itself.

In this embodiment, when the BPC change condition includes condition oneand condition one is triggered, the manner of re-selecting a BPC for theUE by the second network element includes either manner one or mannertwo described below.

Manner one: The second network element re-selects a BPC for the UEaccording to the changed radio resource configuration of the UE(optionally, in combination with the current radio resource situation ofthe second network element itself), and at this time, the BPC for the UEmay be re-selected from a list of BPCs supported by the UE, or the BPCfor the UE may be re-selected from a BPC convergence list previouslyreceived from the first network element (if the first network elementpreviously sends the BPC convergence list to the second network elementby).

Manner two: Referring to FIG. 5 , step S501 and step S502 are included.

In step S501, the second network element receives a new BPC convergencelist from the first network element, where the new BPC convergence listincludes BPCs currently applicable to the UE and re-selected by thefirst network element according to the changed radio resourceconfiguration of the UE.

In step S502, the second network element re-selects a BPC for the UEfrom the new BPC convergence list (in an embodiment, the BPC for the UEmay be re-selected from the BPC convergence list also in combinationwith the current radio resource situation of the second network elementitself).

In this embodiment, when the BPC change condition includes condition twoand condition two is triggered, the step in which the second networkelement re-selects the BPC for the UE includes a step described below.

The second network element re-selects a BPC for the UE from the BPCscurrently applicable to the UE (in an embodiment, the re-selection forthe UE may be performed also in combination with the current radioresource situation of the second network element itself), for example,the BPC for the UE is re-selected from a new BPC convergence list sentby a new first network element.

In this embodiment, when the BPC change condition includes conditionthree and condition three is triggered, the step in which the secondnetwork element re-selects the BPC for the UE includes a step describedbelow.

The second network element re-selects a BPC from the BPC convergencelist or the BPCs supported by the UE, for example, the second networkelement re-selects the BPC for the UE according to the current radioresource situation of the second network element itself.

In this embodiment, when the BPC change condition includes conditionfour and condition four is triggered, the step in which the secondnetwork element re-selects the BPC for the UE includes a step describedbelow.

The second network element re-selects a BPC for the UE according to theBPC selected for the UE by another network element (in an embodiment,the re-selection for the UE may be performed also in combination withthe current radio resource situation of the second network elementitself).

After the second network element reconfigures the BPC for the UE, themethod also includes sending the BPC re-selected for the UE to the firstnetwork element for the first network element to perform at least one ofthe following operations: saving the BPC, performing various managementbased on the BPC, etc.

In this embodiment, the second network element is not limited toconfiguring the BPC for the UE, and it should be understood that othercapabilities having similar properties and characteristics to the BPC inthis example can also be selected by the second network element by usingthe method provided in this embodiment.

For a separated base station or a distributed base station having thestructure of the first network element and the second network element inthis embodiment, various configuration schemes for configuring the BPCfor the UE by the second network element of the base station areprovided in this embodiment. For example, the coordination of the firstnetwork element and the second network element in the BPC selectionprocess can not only avoid selection of a wrong BPC due to the fact thatthe first network element does not know the situation of the underlyingradio resource and environment, but also avoid selection of a wrong BPCdue to the fact that the second network element does not know theoverall network environment, thus enabling the BPC that should becurrently used by the UE to be effectively and reasonably selected in anaccess network. Thereby, when the UE is scheduled, full use can be madewithout exceeding the capability range of the UE, achieving reasonablemaximization of the performance of the UE.

Embodiment Two

A baseband processing combination (BPC) capability configuration deviceis further provided in this embodiment. The BPC capability configurationdevice is configured in the second network element of a base station,and includes a configuration module 601 as shown in FIG. 6 .

The configuration module 601 is configured to select a BPC for a userequipment in a process of the user equipment accessing the secondnetwork element of the base station.

The base station in this embodiment, as illustrated in embodiment one,also includes a first network element and a second network elementconnected to the first network element. The first network element andthe second network element are separately deployed, the first networkelement is at least responsible for radio resource management, and thesecond network element is at least responsible for underlying radiotransmission management. The specific structures and the specificfunction of each network element will not be repeated here.

The manner of configuring a BPC for the UE by the configuration module601 can be flexibly set according to requirements. For ease ofunderstanding, this embodiment is illustrated in several exemplaryconfigurations.

In an embodiment, the configuration module 601 selects a BPC for theuser equipment according to a current radio resource situation of thesecond network element. In this case, the current radio resourcesituation of the second network element is necessarily to be acquired.Thus, as shown in FIG. 7 , the BPC capability configuration device inthis embodiment further includes an acquisition module 602. Theacquisition module 602 is configured to acquire the current radioresource situation of the second network element. It should beunderstood that in this embodiment, when the acquisition module 602acquires the current radio resource situation of the second networkelement, the current radio resource situation of the second networkelement may be acquired from the second network element and may also beacquired from another network element or device that can detect andacquire the current radio resource situation of the second networkelement. The radio resource situation in this embodiment may include atleast one radio resource situation affecting the BPC selection for theUE, and in an embodiment, may also include a radio resource not directlyaffecting the BPC selection for the UE. For example, in one example, theradio resource includes, but is not limited to, a network element-sideradio frequency capability situation and an antenna usage situation.

In this embodiment, the manner of selecting a BPC for the user equipmentby the configuration module 601 according to the current radio resourcesituation of the second network element includes, but is not limited to,the two manners described below.

Manner One:

In this manner, the acquisition module 602 is further configured toreceive a BPC convergence list from the first network element, and asillustrated in embodiment one, the BPC convergence list includes BPCscurrently applicable to the user equipment selected by the first networkelement.

The configuration module 601 is configured to select a BPC for the userequipment from the BPC convergence list (in an embodiment, the BPCselection may be performed in combination with the current radioresource situation of the second network element acquired by theacquisition module 602).

Manner Two:

In this manner, the acquisition module 602 is further configured toacquire at least one of the current serving frequency band or thecurrent serving cell of the user equipment. The serving frequency bandmay be acquired in various manners. Details are not repeated here.

The configuration module 601 is configured to select a BPC for the userequipment according to at least one of the serving frequency band or theserving cell (in an embodiment, the BPC selection may be performed incombination with the current radio resource situation of the secondnetwork element acquired by the acquisition module 602).

In this embodiment, the list of BPCs supported by the UE can be acquiredfrom the capability information of the UE. In one example of thisembodiment, the capability information of the UE includes informationsuch as a frequency band that the UE may support, a frequency bandcombination that the UE may support, and a BPC capability that the UEmay support.

In this embodiment, the step in which the first network element performsconvergence processing on the list of BPCs supported by the UE may alsobe an optional step, that is, the first network element may not performconvergence processing on the list of BPCs supported by the UE. In thiscase, the configuration module 601 directly selects the BPC from thelist of BPCs supported by the UE.

Referring to FIG. 8 , the BPC capability configuration device in thisembodiment further includes a sending module 603. The sending module 603is configured to: after the configuration module selects the BPC for theUE, send the BPC selected for the UE to the first network element forthe first network element to performed one of the following operations:saving the BPC, performing various management based on the BPC, etc.

In an embodiment, the base station may also be adapted to a DCarchitecture, and in this embodiment, the base station may act as amaster node (MN) or a secondary node (SN) in the DC architecture.

In the DC architecture, when the base station acts as an MN, in anembodiment, when the first network element performs convergenceprocessing on the BPCs supported by the UE and obtains and sends therange of converged BPCs to the second network element for indication,the adaptation to the BPC used by the SN in the DC architecture shouldbe considered. That is, a BPC in the BPC convergence list sent by thefirst network element to the second network element is adapted to theBPC used by the secondary node in the DC architecture. In this way, itcan be ensured that the BPC selected by the configuration module 601 forthe UE is adapted to the BPC used by the SN in the DC architecture.

In the DC architecture, when the base station acts as an SN, in anembodiment, when the first network element performs convergenceprocessing on the BPCs supported by the UE and obtains and sends therange of converged BPCs to the second network element for indication,the range of converged BPCs indicated by the first network element tothe second network element cannot exceed the range of BPCs available onthe SN side indicated by the MN in the DC architecture. That is, the BPCin the BPC convergence list sent by the first network element to thesecond network element is within the BPC range designated for thesecondary node by the master node in the DC architecture. In this way,it can be ensured that the BPC selected by the configuration module 601for the UE is adapted to the BPC used by the SN in the DC architecture.

In this embodiment, when at least two second network elements areconnected to the first network element of the second network element ofthe base station, the UE may be connected to only one of the secondnetwork elements, or may be connected to two or more second networkelements at the same time according to requirements. In an embodiment,at this time, a plurality of second network elements connected to the UEeach can perform the above-mentioned process of selecting the BPC forthe UE, and the first network element can indicate the list of BPCs toat least one of these second network elements; in some examples, thefirst network element may indicate the lists of BPCs to the secondnetwork elements respectively. In this embodiment, after these secondnetwork elements select BPCs for the UE, the plurality of second networkelements can directly coordinate, through the first network element orbetween the second network elements, the BPCs selected for the UE, so asto ensure that the sum of UE capabilities occupied by these secondnetwork elements when the UE is scheduled does not exceed the maximumBPC capability that the UE should currently support. For example, whenthe BPC of the UE supports a maximum of 6 levels of MIMO, the MIMOrespectively occupied by these second network elements cannot exceed 6levels.

In this embodiment, for ease of understanding, the UE is still connectedto two second network elements at the same time by way of example. Inthis example, the first network element is referred to as a networkelement A, and the two network elements connected to the UE at the sametime are a network element B and a network element C respectively. Inthis case, the structures of the network element B and network element Cmay both be the structures illustrated in FIGS. 6-8 . It is assumed thatthe network element A sends BPC convergence lists to the network elementB and network element C respectively, and the network element B andnetwork element C respectively configure BPCs for the UE through the BPCselection method described above. Moreover, in one application scenario,the network element B and network element C respectively send theselected BPCs to the network element A. At this time, the networkelement A can determine whether the BPC selected for the UE by thenetwork element B affects the BPC selected for the UE by the networkelement C, and/or whether the BPC selected for the UE by network elementC affects the BPC selected for the UE by network element B. If the BPCselected for the UE by the network element B affects the BPC selectedfor the UE by the network element C, and/or the BPC selected for the UEby the network element C affects the BPC selected for the UE by thenetwork element B, a BPC change notice is sent to the affected thenetwork element B or network element C to notify the network element Bor network element C to perform BPC re-selection, or the BPC convergencelist sent to the network element B or network element C is modifiedaccording to the effect, so that the network element B or networkelement C can perform BPC re-selection according to the received newlist of BPCs. In another application scenario, after the network elementB and network element C respectively configure BPCs for the UE throughthe BPC selection method described above, at least one of the networkelement B or network element C sends the BPC selected for the UE to theother network element. For example, the network element B sends,directly or through the network element A, the BPC selected for the UEto the network element C. At this time, the network element C candetermine, according to the BPC selected for the UE by the networkelement B and the BPC selected for the UE by the network element Citself, whether the BPC previously selected for the UE by the networkelement C itself needs to be re-selected. Through the above exemplarycoordination among the network element A, network element B and thenetwork element C, when the network element B and network element Cschedule the UE, the occupied UE radio capabilities will not exceed themaximum BPC capability that the UE can support for the servicingfrequency band.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the configuration module 601 is furtherconfigured to: after the BPC for the user equipment is selected,re-select the BPC for the user equipment when the BPC change conditionis triggered. In one example of this embodiment, the BPC changecondition includes, but is not limited to, at least one of theconditions described below.

Condition one: Radio resource configuration of the UE changes, and thechanged radio resource configuration affects a BPC selection for the UE.In this example, the first network element may adjust the radio resourceconfiguration of the UE (e.g., modifying the serving frequency band ofthe UE, etc.), or other network elements or devices may adjust the radioresource configuration of the UE.

Condition two: BPCs applicable to the UE change. In this example, thefirst network element may adjust the BPCs applicable to the UE, and thetrigger situation in which the first network element adjusts the BPCsapplicable to the UE can also be flexibly configured. For example, inthe above example, when network element A determines that the BPCselected for the UE by network element C affects the BPC selected forthe UE by network element B, the adjusted new BPC convergence list canbe sent to network element B to thus change the BPCs currentlyapplicable to the UE.

Condition three: The second network element initiates a BPCre-selection.

Condition four: The second network element needs to adjust the BPCpreviously selected for the UE due to the fact that the second networkelement detects a BPC selected for the UE by another network element.For example, in the above example, network element C may determinewhether to reconfigure the BPC previously selected for the UE by networkelement C itself according to the BPC selected for the UE by networkelement B and the BPC selected for the UE by network element C itself.

In this embodiment, when the BPC change condition includes condition oneand condition one is triggered, the manner of re-selecting a BPC for theUE by the configuration module 601 includes either manner one or mannertwo described below.

Manner one: The configuration module 601 re-selects the BPC for the UEaccording to the changed radio resource configuration of the UE (in anembodiment, may also in combination with the current radio resourcesituation of the second network element itself), and at this time, theBPC for the UE may be re-selected from a list of BPCs supported by theUE, or the BPC for the UE may be re-selected from a BPC convergence listpreviously received from the first network element (if the BPCconvergence list was previously sent to the second network element bythe first network element).

Manner two: Referring to FIG. 5 , step S501 and step S502 are included.

In step S501, the acquisition module 602 receives a new BPC convergencelist from the first network element, where the new BPC convergence listincludes BPCs currently applicable to the UE and re-selected by thefirst network element according to the changed radio resourceconfiguration of the UE.

In step S502, the configuration module 601 re-selects the BPC for the UEaccording to the new BPC convergence list (in an embodiment, the BPC forthe UE may be re-selected from the BPC convergence list also incombination with the current radio resource situation of the secondnetwork element itself).

In this embodiment, when the BPC change condition includes condition twoand condition two is triggered, the step in which the configurationmodule 601 re-selects the BPC for the UE includes a step describedbelow.

The configuration module 601 re-selects the BPC for the UE from the BPCscurrently applicable to the UE (in an embodiment, re-selection for theUE may be performed also in combination with the current radio resourcesituation of the second network element itself), for example, the BPCfor the UE is re-selected from a new BPC convergence list sent by a newfirst network element.

In this embodiment, when the BPC change condition includes conditionthree and condition three is triggered, the step in which theconfiguration module 601 re-selects the BPC for the UE includes a stepdescribed below.

The configuration module 601 re-selects the BPC from the BPC convergencelist or the BPCs supported by the UE, for example, the second networkelement re-selects the BPC for the UE according to the current radioresource situation of the second network element itself.

In this embodiment, when the BPC change condition includes conditionfour and condition four is triggered, the step in which theconfiguration module 601 re-selects the BPC for the UE includes a stepdescribed below.

The configuration module 601 re-selects the BPC for the UE according tothe BPC selected for the UE by another network element (in anembodiment, the re-selection for the UE may be performed also incombination with the current radio resource situation of the secondnetwork element itself).

In this embodiment, the sending module 603 is further configured to:after the configuration module 601 re-selects the BPC for the UE, sendthe BPC re-selected for the UE by the configuration module 601 to thefirst network element for the first network element to performed one ofthe following operations: saving the BPC, performing various managementbased on the BPC, etc.

In this embodiment, the BPC capability configuration device is notlimited to configuring the BPC for the UE, and it should be understoodthat other capabilities having similar properties and characteristics tothe BPC in this example can also be configured by the BPC capabilityconfiguration device by using the scheme provided in this embodiment.

In this embodiment, the functions of the configuration module 601,acquisition module 602 and sending module 603 described above can beimplemented by a processor or controller in the second network element.

For a separated base station or a distributed base station having thestructure of the first network element and the second network element inthis embodiment, various configuration schemes for configuring the BPCfor the UE by the BPC capability configuration device configured on thesecond network element are provided for accurately configuring the BPCfor the UE, thus enabling the BPC that should be currently used by theUE to be effectively and reasonably selected in an access network.Thereby, when the UE is scheduled, full use can be made withoutexceeding the capability range of the UE, achieving reasonablemaximization of the performance of the UE.

Embodiment Three

A base station is further provided in this embodiment, and includes afirst network element and a second network element connected to thefirst network element. The first network element and the second networkelement are separately deployed, the first network element is at leastresponsible for radio resource management, and the second networkelement is at least responsible for underlying radio transmissionmanagement.

The second network element, as shown in FIG. 9 , includes a processor91, a memory 92 and a communication bus 93.

The communication bus 93 is configured to implement connectioncommunication between the processor 91 and the memory 92.

The processor 91 is configured to execute one or more programs stored inthe memory 92 to implement steps of the BPC capability configurationmethod described in the above embodiment.

A computer-readable storage medium is further provided in thisembodiment, may be applied in various communication devices, and isconfigured to store one or more programs. The one or more programs areexecuted by one or more processors to implement steps of the BPCcapability configuration method described in the above embodiment.

In order to facilitate understanding of the present application, thisembodiment further illustrates the present application with severalapplication scenarios of a separate base station including the secondnetwork element shown in FIG. 9 as examples.

Scenario One

When a separate base station independently communicates with a UE, foran initially accessed UE, the second network element of the separatebase station will select a BPC that should be used currently for the UE;in an embodiment, a first network element may provide a second networkelement with a range of available BPCs obtained after convergence, i.e.,a BPC convergence list. A BPC selection process in this scenario isshown in FIG. 10 and includes steps S1001 to S1006.

In step S1001, in the RRC Connection Establishment process, the firstnetwork element and the second network element can determine a currentserving cell of the UE; correspondingly, a current serving frequencyband of the UE can also be determined in this process. Various RRCconnection establishment processes may be used for the specificexecution of the RRC Connection Establishment process, including, forexample, but not limited to, a process exemplified in the standardprotocol TS 38.401 v15.0.0.

In step S1002, Available BPC Convergence is performed, which is anoptional step. The first network element can perform an Available BPCconvergence operation according to the current radio resourceconfiguration of the UE to obtain the BPC convergence list. For example,if the first network element determines that only a single serving cellis currently configured for the UE instead of configuring carrieraggregation (CA), the first network element may decide, according to theindication in the UE radio capability information, to converge the rangeof BPCs currently applicable to the UE (for example, assuming that therange of BPCs supported by the UE includes BPC #1 to BPC #5, such rangecan be carried in the UE radio capability information and corresponds tothe serving frequency band of the UE), such as excluding some BPCs,i.e., BPC #3 to BPC #5, related to the CA to obtain a BPC convergencelist including BPC #1 to BPC #2.

In step S1003, the BPC convergence list is sent to the second networkelement through a UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST Message.

In this application scenario, the first network element can send theobtained BPC convergence list to the second network element through theinterface between the network elements and various messages. Forexample, the obtained BPC list is carried in the UE CONTEXT SETUPREQUEST message and sent to the second network element through the UECONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message. However, it should be understood that theobtained BPC list is not limited to being sent to the second networkelement through the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message.

If the first network element does not perform Available BPC Convergence,the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message does not include the BPCconvergence list, that is, the existing message content may be keptunchanged. Of course, the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message can also beadjusted adaptively according to the requirements of a specificapplication scenario.

In step S1004, the second network element performs BPC selection for theUE, that is, executes BPC Selection.

In this step, the following case corresponds to S1002.

If the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message carries the BPC convergencelist, the second network element selects a BPC applicable to the UE fromthe BPC convergence list (e.g., BPC #1 is selected from BPC #1 and BPC#2) according to the current radio resource situation and otherinformation.

If the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message does not carry the BPCconvergence list, the second network element determines the currentserving frequency band of the UE according to the serving cell of the UEand the UE radio capability information carried in the UE CONTEXT SETUPREQUEST message, and then, selects a BPC (e.g., BPC #1 is selected fromBPC #1 to BPC #5) applicable to the UE in the UE radio capabilityinformation in combination with the current radio resource situation andother information.

In an embodiment, the second network element configures the radioresources of the UE in combination with the BPC selected for the UE.

In step S1005, the second network element sends the BPC selected for theUE to the first network element through the UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSEmessage.

In step S1006, RRC Reconfiguration and Data Transmission are performed.When the UE communicates with the second network element, the secondnetwork element executes corresponding scheduling on the UE according tothe selected BPC.

Scenario Two

When a separate base station independently communicates with a UE and afirst network element has reconfiguration requirements for the currentserving cell or other radio resources of the UE in this scenario, asecond network element will reconfigure a corresponding BPC for the UE;in an embodiment, the first network element may re-provide the secondnetwork element with a range of available BPCs obtained afterconvergence, i.e., a new BPC convergence list, according to the modifiedradio resource configuration. The BPC reconfiguration process in thiscase is shown in FIG. 11 and includes steps S1101 to S1104.

In step S1101, the first network element sends a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATIONREQUEST message to the second network element.

In this embodiment, when the first network element decides to trigger UEContext Modification, for the modified radio resource configuration(such as at least one of changing the serving frequency band of the UEor configuring a CA cell for the UE), in an embodiment, the firstnetwork element can converge (such as excluding some BPCs, i.e., BPC #1and BPC #12, that are not applicable to the CA) the list of BPCs (suchas including BPC #1 to BPC #5) currently applicable to the UE, and senda convergence list carried in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUESTmessage to the second network element.

The execution process of UE context modification in this embodiment mayadopt any process that can achieve UE context modification, which is notspecially limited in this embodiment. For example, the UE contextmodification process exemplified in protocol TS 38.473 v15.0.0 may beadopted.

In step S1102, after receiving the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUESTmessage, the second network element performs BPC re-selection, i.e.,executes BPC re-Selection.

In this step, if the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message carries anew BPC convergence list, the second network element re-selects the BPCapplicable to the UE from the BPC convergence list (e.g., BPC #3 isselected from BPC #3 to BPC #5, following the example of scenario one,that is, the BPC applicable to the UE is changed from BPC #1 to BPC #3).Then, the BPC re-selected for the UE is carried in the UE CONTEXTMODIFICATION RESPONS message with which the second network elementsubsequently replies to the first network element, i.e., the secondnetwork element indicates information about the re-selected BPC to thefirst network element.

If the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUEST message does not carry the newBPC convergence list, the second network element decides whether tochange the BPC currently selected for the UE according to the modifiedradio resource configuration of the UE. If change occurs, the secondnetwork element indicates information about the changed BPC to the firstnetwork element in the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONS message. Ifchange does not occur, whether to carry BPC information is optional, andthe BPC information may or may not be carried as required.

In an embodiment, the second network element considers the selected BPCwhen performing radio resource configuration.

In step S1103, the second network element replies to the first networkelement with the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION RESPONS message.

In step S1104, RRC Reconfiguration and Data Transmission are performed.When the UE communicates with the second network element, the secondnetwork element executes corresponding scheduling on the UE according tothe re-selected BPC.

Scenario Three

When a separate base station independently communicates with a UE, if asecond network element decides to change the BPC currently used by theUE, the second network element indicates information about the changedBPC to a first network element. A BPC selection process in this case isshown in FIG. 12 , and includes steps S1201 to S1204.

In step S1201, the second network element re-selects a BPC, that is,executes BPC re-Selection.

The second network element may decide to change the BPC currently usedby the UE according to the current radio resource situation and otherinformation of the second network element itself. Before the changedecision is made, the second network element may have received a BPCconvergence list (referring to description in scenarios one and two)indicated by the first network element, and the changed BPC may or maynot be in the BPC convergence list.

In step S1202, the second network element notifies the first networkelement of the changed BPC through a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION REQUIREDmessage.

In this embodiment, the implementation manner of UE context modificationtriggered by the second network element may adopt any contextmodification manner, for example, the implementation manner of UEcontext modification recorded in protocol TS 38.473 v15.0.0 may beadopted. This embodiment has no limitation thereto.

In step S1203, when the first network element agrees to themodification, the first network element sends a UE CONTEXT MODIFICATIONCONFIRM message to the second network element.

In the example of this scenario, after receiving the UE CONTEXTMODIFICATION REQUIRED message, the first network element decides whetherto agree to the request from the second network element according to theBPC and other information requested for modification in the UE CONTEXTMODIFICATION REQUIRED message from the second network element. If thefirst network element agrees, the first network element replies to thesecond network element with the UE CONTEXT MODIFICATION CONFIRM message;and if the first network element does not agree, the first networkelement may perform steps such as releasing or switching the secondnetwork element.

In step S1204, RRC Reconfiguration and Data Transmission are performed.When the UE communicates with the second network element, the secondnetwork element executes corresponding scheduling on the UE according tothe re-selected BPC.

Scenario Four

When a separate base station and other radio access network elementsjointly provide communication services for the UE, taking the separatebase station as an SN in a DC architecture as an example, a secondnetwork element will select a BPC currently applicable on the SN sidefor the UE; in an embodiment, a first network element may provide a BPCconvergence list obtained after convergence for the second networkelement. A BPC selection process in this case is shown in FIG. 13 , andincludes steps S1301 to S1304.

In step S1301, in an SN Addition Request message sent by an MN to thefirst network element of the base station (as the SN), the MN indicatesthe frequency band list and BPC lists (taking BPC List 1 and BPC List 2as examples in this embodiment) that the secondary node can configurefor the UE.

In step S1302, after receiving the SN Addition Request message, thefirst network element selects a serving cell and a frequency band wherethe serving cell is located that are suitable for being configured forthe UE.

In an embodiment, if the first network element decides to converge(e.g., it is defined that only BPC #1 and BPC #2 in BPC List 1 areavailable) the list of BPCs (e.g., BPC List 1, where BPC List 1 includesBPC #1 to BPC #5) currently applicable to the UE, the first networkelement indicates information about the BPC convergence list obtainedafter convergence to the second network element in a UE Context SetupRequest message; and if the first network element decides not toconverge the list of BPCs currently applicable to the UE, the current UEContext Setup Request message content can remain unchanged.

In step S1303, after receiving the UE Context Setup Request message, thesecond network element selects a BPC for the UE.

For the BPC selection process in this step, reference is made to S1004in scenario one. Details are not repeated here.

In step S1304, after receiving a UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE message, thefirst network element saves information about the BPC currently used bythe UE and replies to the MN with an SN Addition Request ACK message. Inan embodiment, the SN Addition Request ACK message includes informationabout the BPC allocated to the UE.

In step S1305, RRC Reconfiguration and Data Transmission are performed.When the UE communicates with the second network element, the secondnetwork element executes corresponding scheduling on the UE according tothe selected BPC.

Scenario Five

When a separate base station independently communicates with a UE, andthe UE is connected to two second network elements (the two networkelements are respectively referred to as a network element B and anetwork element C in this scenario) at the same time, the networkelement B and network element C will respectively select BPCs for the UEbased on their respective information such as serving cells; in anembodiment, a first network element provides the network element Band/or network element C with the ranges of optional BPCs obtained afterconvergence, i.e., BPC convergence lists. This embodiment takes theprocedure of adding the network element C as an example to illustratethe BPC selection process of the UE. The process is shown in FIG. 14 andincludes steps described below.

In step S1401, the first network element can decide to add the networkelement C on the basis of the network element B according to informationsuch as at least one of service requirements or radio environment of theUE so as to provide radio resources for the UE. The first networkelement decides the serving cell and serving frequency band of the UEunder the network element C. In an embodiment, according to the radiocapability information of the UE and the BPC currently used by the UE onthe network element B side, for the range of BPCs adapted to the servingfrequency band of the UE in the network element C (various BPCs in therange of BPCs may belong to the same or different BPC Lists), the firstnetwork element may also decide to perform Available BPC Convergence onthe range of BPCs to obtain a BPC convergence list for the networkelement C. in this case, the first network element indicates the rangeof converged BPCs in the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message subsequentlysent to the network element C, i.e., adding a BPC convergence list (oradding a BPC exclusion list in reverse, where the BPC exclusion listincludes BPCs not suitable for the UE).

In step S1402, the first network element sends the UE CONTEXT SETUPREQUEST message to the network element C.

In step S1403, the network element C performs BPC selection afterreceiving the UE CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST message, and the selectionprocess is similar to S1004 in scenario one and will not be repeatedhere; and the network element C feeds back a UE CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSEmessage including the selected BPC to the first network element.

In step S1404, after receiving the selected BPC indicated by the networkelement C, the first network element determines whether the BPCcurrently selected for the UE on the network element B side will beaffected. In an embodiment, the first network element triggers UEContext Modification to the network element B. For the execution of theUE Context Modification, reference can be made to scenario two describedabove. In an embodiment, the first network element can indicateinformation about the BPC selected by the network element C side to thenetwork element B. After reception of the information about the BPC, thenetwork element B can determine by itself whether the BPC selected forthe UE needs to be reconfigured.

When the network elements B and C schedule the UE, the coordinationamong the above three network elements can make the occupied UE radiocapabilities not exceed the maximum BPC capability that the UE cansupport for the serving frequency band. Various existing algorithms maybe adopted for BPC selection in the network element, which is notlimited in this embodiment.

In step S1405, RRC Reconfiguration and Data Transmission are performed.When the UE communicates with the network element C, the network elementC executes corresponding scheduling on the UE according to the selectedBPC.

For a separated base station or a distributed base station having thestructure of the first network element and the second network element inthis embodiment, various configuration schemes for configuring the BPCfor the UE by the BPC capability configuration device configured on thesecond network element are provided for accurately configuring the BPCfor the UE, and the selected BPC can also be dynamically adjustedaccording to the specific BPC allocation situation, radio resource usagesituation, radio resource configuration situation of the UE, and thelike, thus enabling the BPC that should be currently used by the UE tobe effectively and reasonably selected by the second network element.Thereby, when the UE is scheduled, full use can be made withoutexceeding the capability range of the UE, achieving reasonablemaximization of the performance of the UE.

Apparently, it should be understood by those skilled in the art thateach of the above-mentioned modules or steps in the embodiments of thepresent application may be implemented by a general-purpose computingapparatus, the modules or steps may be concentrated on a singlecomputing device or distributed on a network composed of multiplecomputing devices, and alternatively, the modules or steps may beimplemented by program codes executable by the computing devices, sothat the modules or steps may be stored in a computer storage medium(such as a read-only memory (ROM)/random access memory (RAM), a magneticdisk or an optical disk) and executed by the computing devices. In somecircumstances, the illustrated or described steps may be executed insequences different from those described herein, or the modules or stepsare made into various integrated circuit modules separately, or multiplemodules or steps therein are made into a single integrated circuitmodule for implementation. Therefore, the present application is notlimited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: determining, by a secondnetwork element of a wireless node, a band combination (BC) for awireless device, when the wireless device is accessing the secondnetwork element; and sending, by the second network element to a firstnetwork element of the wireless node, the BC determined for the wirelessdevice, wherein the second network element is connected to the firstnetwork element.
 2. The method of claim 1, comprising: receiving, by thesecond network element prior to the determining of the BC, a BCconvergence list from the first network element, wherein the BCconvergence list comprises at least one BC supported by the wirelessdevice and determined by the first network element; and determining, bythe second network element, the BC for the wireless device from the BCconvergence list.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one BCis determined from a BC list received from a master node that asecondary node is allowed to configure for the wireless device, to formthe BC convergence list, wherein the second network element and thefirst network element belong to the secondary node.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, comprising: re-determining, by the second network element afterdetermining the BC for the wireless device, the BC for the wirelessdevice.
 5. The method of claim 4, comprising: receiving, by the secondnetwork element, a UE context modification request from the firstnetwork element, prior to re-determining the BC for the wireless device.6. The method of claim 4, comprising: sending, by the second networkelement after re-determining the BC for the wireless device, there-determined BC to the first network element.
 7. A second networkelement of a wireless node, comprising: at least one processorconfigured to: determine a band combination (BC) for a wireless device,when the wireless device is accessing the second network element; andsend, via a transmitter to a first network element of the wireless node,the BC determined for the wireless device, wherein the second networkelement is connected to the first network element.
 8. The second networkelement of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:receive, via a receiver prior to the determination of the BC, a BCconvergence list from the first network element, wherein the BCconvergence list comprises at least one BC supported by the wirelessdevice and determined by the first network element; and determine the BCfor the wireless device from the BC convergence list.
 9. The secondnetwork element of claim 8, wherein the at least one BC is determinedfrom a BC list received from a master node that a secondary node isallowed to configure for the wireless device, to form the BC convergencelist, wherein the second network element and the first network elementbelong to the secondary node.
 10. The second network element of claim 7,wherein the at least one processor is configured to: re-determine, afterdetermining the BC for the wireless device, the BC for the wirelessdevice.
 11. The second network element of claim 10, wherein the at leastone processor is configured to: receive, via a receiver, a UE contextmodification request from the first network element, prior tore-determining the BC for the wireless device.
 12. The second networkelement of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is configuredto: send, via the transmitter after re-determining the BC for thewireless device, the re-determined BC to the first network element. 13.A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions, whichwhen executed by at least one processor, cause the at least oneprocessor to: determine a band combination (BC) for a wireless device,when in a process of the wireless device accessing a second networkelement of a wireless node; and send, via a transmitter to a firstnetwork element of the wireless node, the BC determined for the wirelessdevice, wherein the second network element is connected to the firstnetwork element.
 14. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 13, further storing instructions, which when executed by at leastone processor, cause the at least one processor to: receive, prior tothe determining of the BC, a BC convergence list from the first networkelement, wherein the BC convergence list comprises at least one BCsupported by the wireless device and determined by the first networkelement; and determine the BC for the wireless device from the BCconvergence list.
 15. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 14, wherein the at least one BC is determined from a BC listreceived from a master node that a secondary node is allowed toconfigure for the wireless device, to form the BC convergence list,wherein the second network element and the first network element belongto the secondary node.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable mediumof claim 13, further storing instructions, which when executed by atleast one processor, cause the at least one processor to: re-determine,after determining the BC for the wireless device, the BC for thewireless device.
 17. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 16, further storing instructions, which when executed by at leastone processor, cause the at least one processor to: receive, via areceiver, a UE context modification request from the first networkelement, prior to re-determining the BC for the wireless device.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16, further storinginstructions, which when executed by at least one processor, cause theat least one processor to: send, via a transmitter after re-determiningthe BC for the wireless device, the re-determined BC to the firstnetwork element.